Seasons of Love
by Lady Aescwyn
Summary: A new student at Ouran, a case of broken finery, and an enormous debt resulting in cross-dressing and silliness... déjà vu anyone? KaoxOC, anime based, T for later chapters.


**Seasons of Love**

**Chapter 1**

**By** Lady Aescwyn

**Disclaimer:** I'm a college student. I'm too poor to own anything.

**Summary:** A new student at Ouran, a case of broken finery, and an enormous debt resulting in cross-dressing and silliness... déjà vu anyone? KaoxOC, anime based.

**Authors' Note:** I wrote this nearly a year ago, and I just now dug it up on my computer. I originally had the whole story planned out, but it's still unwritten. Whether I continue or not depends on how much spare time I have... being a student sucks as far as free time is concerned.

Please read and enjoy. Thank you!

**Seasons of Love**

Sixteen-year-old Addison Cade stared gloomily out the window of the limo. The weather outside seemed to emulate her mood. Dark clouds hung low in the sky and couldn't seem to decide whether or not to drench the world below; it had been drizzling on and off all morning. The teen watched the tiny rivulets of rain on the window spider-web out in strange patterns that made shadows dance across her round, lightly-freckled face as the weak light filtered through the tinted glass.

Sitting across from his sisters, thirteen-year-old Ethan Cade slouched in his seat and muttered, "I wonder how long we have to stay here, I wanna go back and live with Dad."

Ethan's twin and Addison's younger sister, Emily, snapped back, "Dad doesn't want us."

Addison shot Emily a glare, "Don't say that. Dad loves us."

"If Dad _loved_ us he wouldn't have sent us away; he wouldn't have sent us halfway around the world to live with a stranger!" Emily's piercing blue stare stabbed at her older sister, daring her to say more.

Addison's green eyes narrowed and matched her sister's stare, "That "stranger" is our Aunt Madison, just because we haven't seen her in years, doesn't change that fact."

Ignoring her sister's comment, Emily snarled back, "What kind of Father just sends his kids away! He's not fit to be a parent!"

The oldest Cade snapped and began yelling vehemently at her sister, "Shut up! You don't have all your facts straight! Don't talk about something you know nothing about!" Addison's voice trembled as she spoke, "Dad... Dad has something he needs to take care of."

Emily opened her mouth to retort but before she could speak, Ethan said quietly, "Stop it, both of you."

Both sisters snapped their mouths shut and glared out the passenger windows with their arms crossed angrily over their chests; it only ever took a gentle word from the youngest Cade to pacify both of his sisters. Addison and Emily Cade were more alike than they would care to admit.

In the resulting, awkward silence Addison tugged nervously at the hem of her periwinkle blue uniform jacket. This would be the first time she and the twins would be going to a private school, let alone a school of Ouran's caliber. Back in America, they had always gone to public school and she was worried, mostly about how her younger siblings would adjust. This school was supposed to be filled with the children of Japan's elite upper class; how would they react to having Americans in their school? Well, at least the Cade children weren't poor on top of that; the Aunt they were now living with was a famous architect and their dad owned a chain of five-star hotels and resorts around the world.

Emily picked a piece of lint off of the brown skirt of her Ouran uniform and glanced across the car at her twin brother. Ethan was wearing the creamy white, long-sleeved jacket edged in gold trim and long black dress pants that identified him as an Ouran junior high student. Then she looked over at her sister dressed in plain black dress pants; she had a pale blue blazer over a white shirt and the entire ensemble was completed with a purple striped black tie. Emily frowned, "I still don't understand why you got a boy's uniform."

Addison blinked and looked down at her little sister, "You saw the girl's uniform. There's no way in hell I'm wearing that-that _monstrosity_ to school every single day."

Emily raised her eyebrows, but she was smiling, "People are gonna think you're a boy."

"Let them." Addison said stubbornly before running her fingers through her shoulder-length light brown hair, "But I think they'd have to be pretty dense to think I was a boy."

"Not really," said Ethan, "Dressed like that, you actually look like a younger version of Dad."

"What? I don't look like Dad!"

"You have his eyes and his nose and your hair is the same color." Ethan was grinning now.

Smiling, Emily chipped in too, "Not to mention, that uniform isn't exactly flattering to the female form. Not that you have much up top anyway..."

Addison turned on her little sister and snapped, "Shut up! You're not helping!" but she couldn't keep from smiling.

"Big brother Addison!" said Ethan, grinning.

"Shut it, twerp!"

"Ethan, be nice to big brother!"

"Hey!"

"Oniisan! Oniisan!" the twins said together in a sing-song voice. English was their first language, but all of the Cade children were fluent in Japanese, French, and Spanish as well.

"You two are evil." Addison sank low in her seat and pretended to pout.

"We love you too big brother!" Ethan and Emily laughed together.

Before Addison had a chance to say anything, their limo came to a stop. "Hey! We're here!" said Ethan as he grabbed his book-bag and scrambled out of the vehicle, closely followed by Emily.

As Addison made a move to get out of the car, she ran into Emily. Both of the twins were standing stock still and staring straight ahead, "What the... you guys were in such a hurry a second ago, what's...? Oh... damn." Addison caught sight of what the twins were staring at and she too was stopped in her tracks.

Before the Cade children was a massive lawn crisscrossed with sidewalks and dotted by manicured trees and topiary. Surrounding them were huge, _pink_ buildings and as the siblings watched, a single, cliché beam of sunlight snuck out from behind the clouds to illuminate the matching _pink_ clock tower.

"Holy... pickles..." whispered Addison.

Emily put her hands on her hips, "Who in their right mind builds a _pink_ school?"

"Damn rich bastards." murmured Ethan in response.

Addison cracked her little brother on the head, "Don't say bad words."

Ethan nursed the bump on his head and glared up at his older sister who had taken out a campus map. With her nose buried in the map, Addison turned a little to the left and pointed, "The junior high buildings are that way, guys."

Emily, who had her own map out, grabbed Addison's and turned it right side up, "Actually, it's _that_ way." She pointed right.

Blushing, Addison crumpled up her map and stuffed it unceremoniously into her bag, "I knew that. Do you guys want me to walk you to class?"

"We're not kids any more, I think we can manage." said Emily.

Addison ruffled Emily's dark, wavy hair, "Hey, I'm your big sister; it's my job to watch over you guys."

Emily huffed irritably as she straightened out her hair, "I think you're the one that needs watching over. C'mon we're leaving now." she grabbed her brother's arm and started walking towards the junior high buildings.

Ethan waved back at Addison as he was dragged away, "Stay out of trouble!"

Addison grinned and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Bye! Have a good first day of school! Make lots of friends! Make good choices! Be good!"

She watched as Ethan continued walking, unaffected, but Emily's shoulders slumped and she ducked her head in embarrassment. Ah yes, it was good to be the older sister.

Still grinning, Addison turned and found her way to the high school buildings. As she walked, it began to drizzle a little again and she saw a few students with umbrellas running to get inside. She didn't mind getting wet, actually she enjoyed it, and she walked casually into the building with the high school classrooms. Once inside, she ran her fingers through her damp hair, fluffing it up a little and then flipping the soggy strands of her long bangs out of her face. When she looked up, she discovered she had an audience.

Watching Addison was a group of five girls all dressed in the frilly and fluffy yellow dresses that made them all look like cream puffs. They were watching her with wide eyes and a couple of them were whispering amongst themselves. Addison caught, "Who's he?" and "He's so pretty!" followed by "He looks American."

Addison blushed furiously; these girls really thought she was a boy! She scratched the back of her head uncertainly and flashed the girls a nervous smile; she felt like a sheep that was about to become dinner for a pack of wolves. "Um, hi?"

A few of the girls squealed when she spoke and the one who appeared to be their leader pounced. She had long, straight, black hair and brown eyes and was a few inches shorter than Addison. She came a little closer than Addison would have liked and batted her eyelashes, "You must be new here?" she asked innocently.

Addison swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah, I just transferred in from America."

Just as she said this, another boy entered the building through the doors Addison had just used. He was thin and shorter than Addison, only standing at about five feet tall, maybe a little taller, and his short, messy brown hair hung down into his face. Overall, he looked rather feminine. The boy looked up and Addison saw that his eyes were huge, chocolaty brown orbs.

The girls in front of Addison hadn't noticed the other boy's entrance and their leader said sweetly as she leaned closer, "Really? What class are you in?"

Desperately, Addison shot the other boy a silent look that screamed, "HELP ME!" but she replied evenly to the girl's question, "I'm in class 1-A."

The girl's face fell in disappointment and the boy spoke up, "I'm in that class; I can show you where it is."

Several of the girls spun around and one squeaked, "Haruhi-kun!"

The boy walked toward Addison and the girls. He nodded politely at the girl who had squeaked his name, "Good morning Hikari-chan, will I see you at the Host Club later?"

The girl nodded quickly as Addison edged away from the group. The boy, Haruhi, came closer and said, "Come on, I'll show you our classroom." Addison nodded and they made a quick get away.

A little ways down the hall and a significant distance from the girls, Addison heaved a sigh of relief and glanced sideways at the shorter boy, "Thanks for that." she said.

The boy smiled, "It's no trouble; the girls here can be a little... disturbing." he looked up at Addison, "I'm Fujioka Haruhi."

"Addison Cade. I'm a transfer student from the States." Addison answered.

Haruhi smiled, "Welcome to Ouran, Addison-kun."

"Thanks." smiled Addison and the two of them walked on in silence. Every few steps, Addison shot a glance at Haruhi; the more she watched the shorter boy, the more something didn't seem right. As Haruhi reached up and brushed a few hairs out of his face, it clicked and Addison stopped in the middle of the hall. Haruhi walked forward a few steps, stopped, and looked back, confused.

"You're a girl aren't you?" said Addison blatantly.

Or at least that was what she had _meant_ to say, it came out more like, "You're a gphmphl! Whaph thah?" Haruhi's face blanched white and he, no _she_, had moved with superhuman speed, slapping a hand over Addison's mouth and pinning the taller girl against the wall.

The cross-dressing girls were face to face, their lips almost touching and Haruhi had Addison's body pinned in an embarrassing position, "It's supposed to be a secret!" she whispered and looked the taller girl up and down. Her eyes narrowed, "I would ask you how you knew, but I think I might already know that... You're a girl too."

Smiling, Addison nodded, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

The other cross-dressing girl visibly relaxed against Addison's chest. Relived, Haruhi rested her forehead against Addison's shoulder and making the taller girl even more uncomfortable, but before either girl could move apart, they were interrupted by two voices yelling in unison, "HARUHI!"

Both of the girl's heads whipped up and they stared at the newcomers with wide-eyed deer-in-the-headlights expressions. The source of the voices was a pair of ginger haired twin boys standing about an inch taller than Addison. And they were not happy. Their feral amber eyes were glaring down at her with strong dislike and Addison could practically see the feline tails lashing in annoyance.

Haruhi leapt away from Addison and said, "Hikaru! Kaoru! Good morning!"

One of the twins grabbed Haruhi by the arm and pulled her away from Addison, "Haruhi! Who is this guy? Did he hurt you? Why were you on top of him? Do we need to punish him?" he asked rapid-fire as the other twin stood protectively between the girls and glared angrily down at Addison.

"Hikaru, calm down; he's just a new student I was showing around." Haruhi said calmly, trying to quiet the twin in front of her.

Unfortunately, it only seemed to infuriate him further to the point that his face turned red with anger and he looked about to explode, but before he said anything, his equally furious twin rounded on her, "Haruhi, you barely know him and you're already "showing him around"!"

Haruhi blinked in confusion and nodded innocently up at the twins, "That's the only way you make new friends isn't it?" she didn't realize that everything she said only riled the brothers up more.

Addison knew that the situation was just getting worse and would undoubtedly end up badly for her, but she jumped forward with the hope of helping Haruhi, "Leave him alone, it's not his fault!"

Sadly, the first twin, Hikaru, seemed to take offense at this and he pounced, grabbing her by the collar and pulling her up to his face, "Just who do you think you are?" he growled.

Addison was angry now; she didn't like when people made assumptions based on nothing. "Back off." she snarled back.

The two of them would have dissolved into a fight right then and there had the other twin, Kaoru, not grabbed Hikaru's arm and pulled him away. "Hikaru, you can't fight in the halls." he hissed through clenched teeth, but he never took his venomous glare off of Addison.

With her hands on her hips, Haruhi looked at Addison and the boys in confusion; she really didn't get it. "What's the matter with you people? Never mind, let's just go. I was just showing Addison-kun here to our classroom."

"Yeah, you were showing him _something_ alright." muttered Hikaru darkly, "Wait! Did you just say "our classroom"? This guy's in our class?!" he glared at Addison.

Haruhi sighed; she was getting fed up with this, "Yes. Now come on or we're gonna be late." she turned and walked away without so much as a glance back.

Addison and the boys trotted to keep up, but the twins positioned themselves on either side of Haruhi to keep Addison from getting too close.

Once the silent group reached their destination, the red-headed twins whisked Haruhi to a group of desks at the back of the classroom where they once again placed themselves on both sides of her like bodyguards and their identical calculating glares never left Addison as she went to talk to her new teacher. The teacher, Ms. Mikage, was a short, petite woman with jet black hair and eyes; she asked Addison to wait until the last few students arrived before sitting down.

The last few students; a group of three girls, all in the puffy yellow uniforms finally came through the door and Ms. Mikage shot them a displeased glare before nodding at Addison, "Class, we have a new student today. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you, Mr. Cade."

The corner of Addison's mouth twitched; even the teacher thought she was a boy. Hadn't she even looked at the roster? Surely it had her true gender on there. Oh well, perhaps it wasn't so bad if everyone thought her a boy. If someone figured it out, she feared she might be forced to wear one of those..._ things_.

In the back of the classroom, Hikaru Hitachiin narrowed his eyes as he studied the new boy. He looked far too innocent as he smiled nervously at the class. Overall he was pretty, for a boy. He had an oval face with a light dusting of freckles over fair skin and his attractively messy, thick, light sandy hair just brushed the top of his shoulders and the long bangs fell untidily over his big green eyes and framed the sides of his face. He was about an inch shorter than Hikaru and Kaoru and he had a slight but strong frame.

Yes, he was attractive, but Hikaru didn't like him. No, that was the understatement of the century; Hikaru _hated_ him.

How _dare_ he put his hands on Haruhi!

Addison internally squirmed under the chilly gaze of the twins, but she forced herself to smile at her new classmates, "Hello everyone, my name is Addison Cade; I'm a new transfer student from America." she wracked her brain for something else to say, "I have a horrible sense of direction; so if you see me wandering the halls, I'm probably lost and would very much appreciate being pointed in the right direction." she flashed the class a nervous smile which evoked whispers and giggles from several of the girls.

Ms. Mikage nodded curtly, "Thank you Mr. Cade, you may sit next to Mr. Hitachiin." she pointed to a desk next to one of the twins, the one with his hair parted on the left.

Something inside Addison wilted as she looked at her new desk, but she kept a straight face and walked calmly to the back of the class, hung her book-bag from the desk hook, and sat down without glancing once at the twins.

Class went by agonizingly slow, Addison could feel the incensed amber eyes watching her every little move. Every time she risked a glance beside her, she was greeted by an angry glare. The twins didn't even seem to be paying attention to the lesson at all; the only thing they seemed to care about at that moment was making Addison squirm. And it was working.

When the lunch bell finally rang, she bolted from the classroom, ran downstairs and out into the nearest courtyard where she flopped onto a delicate wrought-iron bench. She took a deep breath and watched the fountain, letting the cool sound of the water calm her down; she hated having her every move watched like that, it was far too unnerving.

So much for a good impression. Addison sighed, it wasn't even halfway through her first day and she'd already made enemies. Screw lunch; she didn't want to be anywhere near those twins.

Back in classroom 1-A, a certain pair of twins were smirking impishly at each other. "He sure is skittish, isn't he, Hikaru?" said one of the grinning red-heads.

The other boy didn't reply, but he made his way over to the desk that the American had vacated and he lifted the abandoned book-bag from the hook on the side of the desk.

Haruhi and the twins were the only students left in the room and the cross-dressing girl shot the boys a dark look as she took out her bento box, "Leave Addison-kun's things alone."

Kaoru and Hikaru ignored her and opened the American's bag. Hikaru reached a hand in and started pawing through Addison's things; he pulled out a couple of textbooks and a thick five-subject notebook. He flipped through the empty pages of the new notebook, "Nothing, how boring." he muttered.

Kaoru took the bag from his twin and rooted around in the bottom of it; he pulled out a handful of mechanical pencils, pens, and hi-liters which he promptly tossed aside. The last item he pulled out was far more interesting, "Oh! Look what we have here!" he held up a brown leather wallet.

Now interested, Hikaru threw the textbooks on the floor and scooted closer to his twin to get a better look. As Hikaru watched over his shoulder, Kaoru flipped open the wallet and a small picture fell into his lap, but before they could get a good look at the wallet's contents, it was snatched away by a furious Haruhi.

"Why can't you two just leave well enough alone?" she growled before taking the wallet and stalking stiffly out of the room.

Hikaru watched her go with a dark frown on his face; how could Haruhi just blow off her friends for some new guy?

Beside him, Kaoru picked up the picture from his lap and studied it. At first he thought it was a picture of the American, but the man in the picture was older. He had the same green eyes, but there were laugh lines crinkling at the corners and his short hair was the same color except for the streaks of gray at the temples. The man had the bright blue sky and a body of water at his back and in his right hand was a fish. The picture looked fairly recent but the corners were worn and bent, as though it had been looked at a thousand times. Kaoru turned it over in his hands to see the words, "Dad, Chincoteague." written in small, spidery handwriting.

Hikaru took his brother by the arm and pulled him out of the room, "C'mon. If she won't listen to us, then maybe Tono can talk some sense into her."

Meanwhile, Haruhi wandered the halls and small courtyards looking for her fellow cross-dresser. Lunch period was almost over and the brunette was about to give up when she spotted the other girl sitting on a bench, staring at an ornate marble fountain. Haruhi walked quietly into the closed off courtyard, "Addison-kun?"

Addison looked up, "Ah? Oh, hi Haruhi-kun!" she smiled.

Haruhi walked over and sat next to Addison, "Sorry about Hikaru and Kaoru," she held out the wallet, "They get a little possessive sometimes... well, all the time really."

Addison took her wallet and blinked down at it, puzzled.

"They got into your things, but I got your wallet before they could do too much damage." Haruhi explained.

A bead of sweat ran down Addison's face and she sighed, "Thank you." she paused for a moment, "Do they know about your gender?"

The shorter girl nodded, "Yeah."

Addison laughed, "That makes sense then; no wonder they hate me! They probably thought I was trying to molest you."

Smiling, Haruhi nodded, "I was wanting to ask you; why are you disguised as a boy?"

"Well, I didn't actually do it intentionally. You see, I was the one who ordered our uniforms this year; my siblings and mine." Addison explained as she scratched the back of her head, "I just _really_ didn't want to wear one of those heinous dresses, so I ordered a boy's uniform instead." she laughed a little, "I think I'm going to end up regretting that decision. So what about you; why are you pretending to be a boy?"

The other teen was smiling a little, "That's a long story," she started, but before she could finish, the warning bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Both of the girls got up and started back toward class, "Sorry Addison-kun, I'll tell you another time." said Haruhi.

"I'll look forward to it." laughed Addison, "And please, call me Addison or even just Addie."

Haruhi nodded and genuinely smiled up at her new classmate; she felt strangely happy that she had someone to identify with. She was always insisting that she wasn't gender conscious and didn't care if no one really knew she was a girl, but part of her was relieved that she might have a female friend to talk with now.

The girls walked on in silence and they were joined in the halls by some other students making their way back to class from the cafeterias. As they walked, Addison opened her wallet to make sure the twins hadn't done any permanent damage. She frowned as she flipped through her pictures; everything was in order, but there was one thing missing. "Where is it?" she whispered as she shuffled through her wallet again, but she still couldn't find what she was looking for.

Haruhi looked up at her curiously, "What's wrong Addison-kun?"

"Its gone!" she said as she anxiously went through her things again.

Haruhi frowned at the distress in her new friend's voice, "What is?"

"My dad; I-I mean the picture of my dad." Addison's voice and hands were shaking a little as she dug through her wallet again. Suddenly, she snapped her mouth shut and her face turned grim. Without a word to Haruhi, she took off running down the hall to the classroom.

Hikaru had a menacing scowl on his face as he sat on his brother's desk and beside him Kaoru sat in his chair tapping his fingers impatiently with identical expression on his face.

The twins had found the rest of the Host Club in the cafeteria and told them about the new American trying to assault Haruhi. Of course, the Host Club king had nearly blown up and the two seniors had shot up out of their chairs with murderous looks on their faces. The last member of the Host Club had stiffened and his glasses flashed as he whipped out his laptop and his fingers flew across the keys, pulling up mountains of information in seconds.

The king, the seniors, and the twins set out on a campus-wide search for their cross-dressing friend, but couldn't find her before the warning bell rang and the king was dragged back to class by his bespectacled classmate. Currently, the twins were back in their own classroom brooding and waiting for class to start.

Suddenly the door was slammed open and the new boy stood in the doorway breathing heavily, his green eyes were on fire as he glared at Hikaru and Kaoru, "Where is it?" he snarled as he slowly stalked forward.

The twins were genuinely confused, but not unhappy; something they did had set off the new kid. "We don't know what you're talking about." they said together.

At that moment, Haruhi came through the door looking like she had just run a marathon, "Addi-chan, wait up!" she heaved as she leaned against the doorframe.

Addi-chan? Hikaru stood up angrily, but the new boy either hadn't noticed Haruhi or was ignoring her, "Don't give me that! You know what I'm talking about! Where's the picture?" he had stopped, now there was only one desk between him and the twins.

Kaoru raised his eyebrows; he had still been holding the picture of the man with the fish when Hikaru had dragged him to the lunch room and he had shoved it absentmindedly into his pocket, "You mean this?" he said nonchalantly as he pulled it out.

Addison's eyes flashed and her voice lowered dangerously, "Give it back."

Hikaru didn't say anything as he took the picture from his brother. The American looked ready to vault over the desk and tear him to pieces; it was obviously terribly important to him. He glanced over at Haruhi who was standing stiffly next to the new boy and looking apprehensively back and forth between the boys. Even the few other students in the room had gone quiet; everyone felt the tense feeling of an imminent fight.

Tearing up the picture was certainly the first thing that popped into Hikaru's mind, but the American already looked ready to eat him alive. If he destroyed the picture, there would certainly be a fight. As he weighed the consequences of his actions, he thought that he really wouldn't mind fighting with the new boy; in fact he wanted the chance to pummel him. He knew Kaoru would back him up, but there were other students in the room and the American's livid and desperate eyes told Hikaru that he would be a difficult opponent.

Ultimately, Hikaru decided that right then a fight wouldn't be worth it, but he wouldn't forget what (in his mind) the American had done to Haruhi. So he did the unexpected, he gave the picture back. There would be plenty of time to repay the American later.

Addison blinked, surprised, as she took the picture gently, "Thank you." she felt as though someone had thrown a bucket of water on the fire of her anger.

Hikaru didn't say anything as he plopped moodily down in his chair and glared out the window, but Kaoru watched closely as Addison tenderly smoothed out the creases in the picture before gently tucking it away in the wallet. The rest of the students relaxed as they realized a crisis had been averted.

The rest of the day was surprisingly calm and quiet; the open hostility and angry glares from the twins was gone, replaced by cold indifference as they ignored Addison. As soon as the last bell of the day rang, the twins promptly disappeared; taking Haruhi with them.

Addison sighed as she hefted her books in her arms. After classes were over, there was a study/club period in which the students either did their homework or participated in various sports or clubs before going home.

She walked the empty corridors of the south high school building, looking for a place to do her homework in peace, but every reading room and library she peeked into was packed with chattering students. She walked up a grand staircase covered with thick, plush, red carpet that muffled her footfalls and she found herself in a long hall with white marble floors. On her left were huge windows showing the part of the grounds and the school's clock tower.

As she stopped to admire the view, a flock of white doves flew by. She smiled wryly; they were beautiful, but just as cliché as the rest of this place.

To Addison's right were doors leading to music rooms; there was very faint chatter and music coming from the first two, but the last set of doors at the end of the hall was silent. Relieved at finally finding a quiet spot, she grasped the heavy gold handle and opened the door... and got a face full of rose petals.

"Welcome to the Host Club!"

Addison's jaw dropped and she blinked a few times, taking in the sight in front of her. Before her were seven gorgeous young men all dressed as pirates. At first she thought she must have died and gone to heaven, but the words that came out of her mouth were, "What the hell?!"

The boy that had spoken seemed to be the leader of the group; he had pale blonde hair and striking violet eyes. He was dressed in a loose-fitting white romantic shirt that was open to about halfway down his chest and he wore long dark pants that fit has legs perfectly. He looked offended and taken aback at her words.

"Tono! That's the one! He's the one who attacked Haruhi!" shouted two voices simultaneously. Addison turned and was surprised to see the twins dressed identically in loose, calf-length pants and bare feet. They both wore dark vests but no shirts, leaving their chests exposed, and the finishing touch was a flowing, roguish, red scarf tied around each of their heads. She would have found them extremely attractive had she not hated them so much.

Before Addison knew what was happening, Blondie had her by the arms and was yelling questions at her so fast that she couldn't make out a word he was saying and it didn't help that his Japanese was dotted with an occasional splattering of French. Alarmed and afraid for her safety, Addison did the first thing she could think of; she brought her knee up as hard as she could into Blondie's groin.

As Blondie's hold on her arms loosened, Addison leapt backwards; trying to escape, but her back collided with something.

Time seemed to slow down as Addison turned to see an extremely expensive Faberge egg rocking precariously back and forth on the pedestal she had just run into. Addison leapt forward to steady it, but she accidentally knocked against the already wobbly pedestal and the royal purple enameled egg, latticed with wrought gold and studded with diamonds began it's slow topple to the extremely unforgiving hard marble floor. Her hand shot out to catch it, but she just wasn't fast enough and the tips of her fingernails only clicked against the egg before it slipped out of reach and collided with the floor, shattering into several tiny pieces.

The delicate tinkling of the broken egg sounded to Addison more like a wrecking ball colliding with her head as it echoed through the music room.

Addison was breathing heavily as she leaned weakly against the now empty pedestal. "Well, that's not good," she heard one of the twins say behind her, "We could have made ten million yen on that at our auction." finished the other.

Addison felt like she had just been run into by a freight train, "T-t-ten mil-million?!" she squeaked. How much is that in American dollars? Her vision blurred a little as she sank into a puddle on the floor.

"A-Addison? Are you all right?" Haruhi's pale face appeared in front of Addison as she knelt beside the other girl. Haruhi was dressed in a red silk shirt and a more modest version of Blondie's outfit.

All Addison could say was, "Ten million yen?"

"You _will_ pay us back of course." said a tall boy with short dark hair and glasses. His voice was as cold and sinister as his glare. He was dressed in a shirt like Blondie's except his was black and he wore all dark clothing with a thick black belt and other leather accessories, the only thing that was out of place was the notebook under his arm.

"I-I yes, but, but, I can't..." stuttered Addison.

The cold boy flipped open his notebook, "You're Addison Cade. Your father is Spencer Cade and you are currently living with your aunt, Madison Hallaway, certainly you have the money."

Addison winced, wondering for a moment how this boy knew so much about her, "Yes, but I can't very well borrow that much money from my Aunt."

The boy's eyes flashed, but before he said anything, Haruhi spoke up, "Wait! Maybe Addison can work off his debt." she stood up, "Addison can become a host like me and work until the money is paid off, right Tamaki-senpai?"

Blondie stood up, still looking a bit green. He looked form Haruhi's pleading face to the pathetic puddle of Addison on the floor as he thought for a moment. Finally, he said, "Yes, but not as a host! Addison-kun will work as the club's dog until he graduates!" He had a satisfied smirk on his face, but Addison didn't notice; she was too busy screaming internally.

The Host Club is now open...

It was torture.

Addison was currently sitting in one of the many window seats that the third music room boasted; she had a rare moment in which Blondie didn't have her working like a dog and the twins weren't harassing her.

She had learned that Blondie's real name was Tamaki and that he was a second year student in charge of the Host Club, or so he said. It was really Kyouya, the dark boy with glasses that was the power behind the club. While Kyouya was quiet and calculating, Tamaki was the complete opposite. Tamaki insisted that Addison call him "king" and he in turn called her "Koinu-chan." But that was better than what the twins were doing, they were treating her as their personal slave and whipping boy.

Addison glanced at the last two boys in the host club; Takashi and Mitsukuni, or Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai, respectively. The two seniors had been cold towards her at first, but the shorter one had quickly warmed up to her while the taller one was just indifferent, but he seemed that way towards everyone but Hunny. Hunny was dressed in lighter shades than the other hosts and he wore worn pants and a tattered sleeveless shirt that made him look like an adorable, waif-like cabin boy. Mori was shirtless altogether, wearing only long dark pants and a leather belt with a pirate cutlass hanging at his hip.

Addison pulled her knees up to her chest as she looked out over the music room. Haruhi had explained the purpose of the Host club to her, but she still didn't quite understand why anyone would want to spend real money to be fawned over by a bunch of boys (no matter how hot they were). The very idea perplexed her; were these girls really that desperate?

Hunny looked up from his cake and studied the miserable new boy sitting in the window seat, trying to look as small as possible. At first he had watched the boy closely after hearing about his run-in with Haru-chan, but he seemed nice enough and Haru-chan seemed to trust him, so that made him alright in Hunny's book. Unfortunately, Tama-chan, Hika-chan, and Kao-chan didn't think so and Hunny had watched them torment the poor boy for the last hour.

"Addi-chan!" called Hunny.

Addison jumped up and trotted over to the table where Mori and Hunny were sitting, "Yes Hunny-senpai? Do you need more tea?"

Hunny flashed her one of his mega-watt smiles and motioned for Addison to sit down, "Sit with us Addi-chan!"

Addison sat down across from Mori and next to one of their customers, a first-year girl with long, mousy brown hair done up in curls and dark brown eyes. The girl flushed pink and asked, "Are you really from America, Addison-kun?"

Addison perched on the edge of her seat, uncertain as to whether or not she was allowed to interact with the customers. She smiled nervously at the girl and said "Yes."

"Addi-chan, do you want some cake?" asked Hunny. Addison could practically see the pink hearts and cute little flowers floating around his head.

"I-I don't think I'm allowed to."

"It's alright! Here." Hunny plunked a plate down in front of Addison.

Addison stared down at the plate; it was a slice of angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It was Addison's favorite.

Hunny frowned a little when Addison didn't start eating, "Don't you like it?"

Addison blushed, "No, I do! Strawberries are my favorite, actually." she smiled as she picked up a fork.

In response to this, Mori silently put the strawberries from his cake onto Addison's, making her stutter her thanks. This made the three customers at Hunny and Mori's table squeal with glee at the sweet scene before them.

Hunny smiled; cake made everything better.

Addison was still pink in the face as she picked up a big, perfect, whipped cream covered strawberry and took a bite. She smiled contentedly and a small moan of happiness escaped her throat, sending the customers into a state of sky-high bliss.

But Hunny was staring at Addison in a new light as he realized that the new boy was really the new _girl_. He glanced over at Mori, his cousin's expression hadn't changed, but Hunny knew he'd recognized it too. He smiled, "Let's have more cake!"

"Koinu-chan!" the twins called from across the room before Addison could take another bite.

Addison's face fell and she jumped up, "Please excuse me." she bowed politely to the young women before hurrying over to the twins and their customers on the other side of the room. "Yes?" she asked.

"We need more coffee." ordered Hikaru. He had his arms around his brother, having just finished one of their little twincest scenes for their two customers.

Addison nodded and bent to collect their teacups, but she was interrupted as thin but strong arms snaked around her waist and pulled her upright. Kaoru was behind her and she was _very_ aware of his bare chest pressing against her back as his arms tightened around her waist. Then, Hikaru was in front of her. She felt her heart beat a little faster as he came closer. He reached up with his hand and touched her lip, "You have whipped cream on your lips." he said with a mischievous smile as he wiped it away with one seductive movement.

Keeping an arm around Addison's waist, Kaoru gently took Hikaru's wrist and lifted the finger with the whipped cream to his lips. He slowly licked it from his twin's hand, letting the finger linger in his mouth for a moment as he sucked all of the sweet cream from the tip.

Addison was wide-eyed, not knowing what to do she just stared, barely registering the twin's customers having joygasms in the background. At first Addison was confused; why had their attitude toward her suddenly flipped and why the hell were they holding her like this?

Then she realized whet they were doing; they were toying with her, trying to embarrass her in front of the other students.

As Kaoru turned to her, bringing his face closer to lick the last, microscopic trace of cream from her cheek, she frowned and jerked her face away, "Just what do you think I am?" she snapped irritably.

Hikaru smiled and Kaoru leaned down so his mouth was against her ear, "Our toy of course." he breathed.

The feel of Kaoru's breath against her ear and cheek and his low voice coupled with the way his arms were around her, made Addison shudder involuntarily. The sixteen-year-old's raging hormones made it hard to think straight but she managed to growl, "I'm not your toy, now lemme go..."

Hikaru's grin grew and he put his arms loosely around her waist, "But we don't want to." he said with a hint of a whine in his voice as he pulled Kaoru and Addison closer, completing the Addison sandwich.

Addison had never been very smooth around boys; she had always thought the flirtatious, giggly girls were just plain silly. Sure, she'd had crushes on boys, but she'd never actually had a boyfriend let alone been held by two boys the way the twins were holding her now. She was getting flustered, which wasn't like her and it was making her rather peeved.

"Let me go!" she said more clearly, this time attempting to disentangle herself from the boys, but their arms held her tight. In response, she struggled harder, stepping on one of the twins' feet. She reasoned that even though she had to work for the club as their dog, she hadn't agreed to being harassed, so she resorted to stomping and a liberal use of her elbows to get away from the infuriating twins.

Unfortunately, the twins were just as stubborn and they clung to her like their lives depended on it. As the girl between them fought harder, it threw all three of them off-balance and they toppled to the marble floor in a tangle of gangly arms and legs.

In the scuffle, Addison had gotten turned around and Kaoru had landed right on top of her, with his face planted right in her chest. Now, Addison wasn't completely unfortunate when it came to her chest; she was a little small, but she definitely had breasts. Small though they were and as well as the lines of the periwinkle blazer hid them, they were there and Addison knew there was no way the twin could miss them at this close range.

A few strands of light hair had fallen into her stunned face and she was staring at Kaoru with her big green eyes. That was when Kaoru realized that the new boy was soft in places he shouldn't be...

A deep, tomato-red blush had crept its way into Addison's cheeks as the twin's wide amber eyes met her own and he stared at her in a new light. She knew he knew; there was no way he could have missed it. She scrambled up before he could react, snatched their cups from the table and beat a hasty retreat.

Hikaru watched her go, an irked expression marring his features. He reached out a hand to help his younger brother up, and as Kaoru's identical eyes met his own, a silent communication passed between them. The older Hitachiin blinked in surprise and he looked again at the American. She was now across the room, busying herself with making some commoner coffee. He saw it now, saw what she was. He almost laughed, how had he not noticed before?

How interesting...

As much as both twins wanted to investigate their newest toy, they had customers to attend to. Without missing a beat, Hikaru took Kaoru in his arms and the two performed a twincest scene fit for television, triggering palpitations of bliss in their customers.

Addison's hand shook slightly as she spooned some of the instant coffee into a few delicate little teacups. She angrily shook her head and willed her hand to be steady. She'd be damned if she let those imps affect her so, but her body betrayed her. Her blood rushed through her veins and rose in her cheeks, telling her that she had liked being held by those two boys, but in her mind she was pissed at them.

The coffee she was making now had originally been intended for them, but now she had no intention of going back over there. Besides, their customers were well distracted by their displays of "brotherly love." So instead, Addison decided to take the coffee over to Haruhi and her two customers.

Haruhi looked up just as Addison arrived, bearing a tray laden with Coffee and various sweetmeats. She sent the other girl a sympathetic look and took the tray from her, "Would you like to sit with us Addi-chan?" Haruhi asked, thinking the other cross-dresser looked like she could use a rest.

Addison shook her head, she wanted to keep her hands busy or she might flat out attack the offending twins, "No, but thank you Haruhi."

One of Haruhi's customers, Addison recognized her as one of the girls who had first greeted her that morning, spoke up, "Please Addison-kun? We would love to hear about you..." she trailed off as a light pink blush warmed her cheeks, "If that's alright."

Addison was about to protest again when she caught the glint of lights off of a pair of glasses in her peripheral vision. Kyouya had informed her just before the club had opened that the customer's needs were to be placed first. There had been a thinly veiled threat as he told her that if there were any unhappy customers, her debt might raise considerably. She sighed, resigned, and sat. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

The customers giggled slightly and scooted over to make room for her on the couch as Haruhi gave her another quiet, concerned smile.

The second customer, a short, plump girl asked politely, "If you don't mind my asking Addison-kun, why did you move to Japan?"

"My father sent us, my siblings and me, here to visit with my Aunt." she said quickly. Well, it wasn't entirely a lie, but was the story her father had asked her to tell her siblings so she stuck to it resolutely. "He wants us to have the best education and Ouran is quickly becoming one of the top schools in the world." she added. That part wasn't a lie.

"Who are your siblings?" asked the first girl, truly interested. Her brown eyes were wide with curiosity.

"Ethan and Emily. They're twins and in the middle school." Addison replied. This hosting thing didn't seem so bad, although she felt as though she was stealing Haruhi's customers. Haruhi didn't seem to mind though; in fact she was listening intently.

The second customer spoke up again, "What about your mother."

Addison looked down, "She died when I was very young." It was true; her mother had passed away when she was only three due to complications during the twins' birth. Not even the best doctors could have saved her.

The customers gasped and the pleasant brunette that had asked the question said, "Oh! I'm so sorry Addison-kun. I shouldn't have asked."

Haruhi stared at the new girl seeing her in a new light, apparently the two had more in common than they realized. It was almost eerie.

Addison shook her head quickly, "No! No! Don't be sorry, I barely remember her anyway. I was only three." she brushed it off lightly, trying to reassure the girls.

Then the first customer said, "You know, Haruhi-kun lost his mother too." she glanced at Haruhi, hoping she wasn't being too forward.

Addison blinked and looked at Haruhi, slightly stunned. "Really?" she asked.

Haruhi nodded and opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, she was interrupted by a few light notes as someone began to play the piano.

Every person in the giant music room fell silent and every head turned to see the Host Club's king sitting at the white grand piano. His eyes were closed and his hands danced gracefully across the ivory keys playing a soft, mournful tune for his customers.

In that moment Tamaki looked so different from the foolish blonde that Addison had kneed earlier.

There was a whole different person beneath the ditzy blonde exterior, a slightly sad but deeply genuine young man. His soul was laid bare before everyone in his playing. Such was his passion for this instrument and for his music that Addison's previous feelings of anger at him were wiped away.

Addison's breath caught in her throat as she realized that she knew the song, but she had never heard it played like this before. She had never heard anything played like this before and it pulled at her soul, very nearly bringing her to tears.

"Addison?" Haruhi's voice was quiet as she tried to catch Addison's attention, "Do you know the song?"

The American had to tear her attention away from the music and she turned, slightly dazed and puzzled to look at the shorter brunette.

Haruhi cocked her head to the side, she had begun getting used to seeing people being affected by Tamaki-senpai's playing, but Addison was different. She seemed... shaken. "You were humming." Haruhi supplied.

Addison blinked and nodded. She kept her voice low; it would be verging on desecration to interrupt such music. "It's a Catalan folk song. It's sung from the point-of-view of a girl whose lover has gone to war and she fears she will never see him again. I- I've sung it before, but I've never-"

"You know the words?" someone interrupted her from behind. Addison nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned to find the Host Club's king towering over her. Apparently he had heard her even through his own playing and he studied her with huge, curious violet orbs.

Addison stuttered, still surprised by his sudden appearance. "Well, yes, but I-"

Before she could get out another word, the taller blonde had pulled her from the couch and dragged her to the piano. Up close, she saw that the piano was truly a magnificent instrument. It was made out of the finest materials and the finish, which had at first appeared to be white, was really an iridescent cream color that sparkled subtly like the wings of a butterfly in the sunlight streaming through the floor-length windows.

Tamaki sat gracefully down on the matching piano bench and rested the tips of his fingers lightly on the keys. He was careful not to apply any pressure and he barely brushed them as he looked at his club's new dog, "Sing for us." he commanded, sounding every bit the King he claimed to be.

"Oh no, I couldn't. I-" Addison protested, but the junior ignored her protests and began the song anyway. Every eye in the vast room was on the two of them.

Tamaki's eyes were nearly closed again as his fingers lovingly caressed the keys and he began playing the song from memory. The first few bars were played with such tenderness that Addison had not the remotest desire to open her mouth and ruin the beauty. But as he reached the decrescendo at the end of the opening, she felt as though the music had hands and they were reaching down into her chest to pull the song from her whether she wanted to sing it or not.

_Adeu, donzellet, adeu..._

She began softly, reluctantly. Her low-key alto voice added a somberness to the song and an entirely new dimension that hadn't been there when it was just the King playing.

_Que si tu t'en vas quedare soleta._

Her voice grew stronger with every note. It wasn't that she didn't want to sing, much to the contrary, she had wanted it with every shard of her soul.

_Adeu, donzellet, adeu,_

_Que si tu t'en vas ja no tornaras._

She had felt that she couldn't, for reasons of her own, mar Tamaki's playing with her own voice, but that was irrelevant now. The music had stolen her away and she sang the words as though they were all that mattered, all that existed.

Because to her, in that moment, they were.

_Aquell noi tan ben plantat i tan elegant que se'n va a la guerra?_

Addison sang like Tamaki played; with all of her being. Laying herself completely bare before the eyes of these people she didn't know.

_Aquell noi tan ben plantat i tan elegant que s'en va a soldat._

What's more, she didn't care. Just singing like this felt so good...

She hadn't sung in so long, after deciding she shouldn't, that now she was almost high as she felt the music rushing through her veins like a drug.

This was her element.

_Jo dire al capita que em deixi tornar, a la meva terra;_

She had paused, letting Tamaki's fingers carry the melody then she joined with him again, her voice and his playing rising together in a crescendo.

_Jo dire al capita que em deixi tornar cap a Vilassar._

Her voice wavered and faded as though she physically felt the pain of the girl waiting in Vilassar. When she began to sing again, to accompany the King's music, it was slower; less a rush of the passion she felt and more the pleading of a young lover.

_Jo dire al capita, que em deixi tornar,_

_cap a Vilassar..._

There was a rest between the lines so she took a breath and then she sang the last line freely. It was like the deep breath of relief after the storm, the dawn after the night.

Tamaki's fingers lingered slowly on the keys, almost as though he were sad for the song to be over and the last note hovered in the still air of the room before fading at last into utter silence.

Together, Addison's voice and Tamaki's playing had painted the silence with music and there was not a single dry eye in the Third Music Room.

The sixteen-year-old's heart thundered in her chest and her hands shook a little as the ecstasy subsided. She really hadn't realized how much she had missed her music. When she opened her eyes, she was startled to discover everyone staring at her, but before she could react something hit her like a bullet train.

Addison squawked unceremoniously as Tamaki swept her up in a bone crushing bear-hug. The junior ignored her protests as he smashed her face against his chest and spun gleefully in circles around the room. "Koinu-chan has such a lovely voice! A lad with such a feminine and delicate voice should not be relegated to do such lowly chores!"

He seemed to have forgotten that _he_ had been the one to assign those chores...

A bead of sweat ran down Haruhi's face as she caught what sounded like a string of muffled, angry curses coming from where Addison's head was being held against Tamaki's jacket. "Ah, Senpai? I think you're suffocating him." she said.

Tamaki stopped, blinking for a moment before noticing the flailing arms of the freshman he held captive. He immediately let go and Addison fell back on her rump, gasping for air. She glared at the upperclassman, but before she could protest, Tamaki shoved his finger in her face, "It would be a grievous sin to keep such beauty hidden away from the fair maidens whose hearts long for the pure, unadulterated song of a good man's heart! From this day forward, you will be a host!"

Grievous... Beauty... Maidens... Pure... Song... Man... Host... "WHAT?!"

It had taken a moment for Addison to process all of Tamaki's words, but once she understood, she nearly screamed. Her? A host? It was bad enough that she had to be the club's personal slave, but to participate in their... _activities_; that was a little too much. She couldn't flirt with boys, let alone girls. "No, oh no." she shook her head.

But then one of the customers spoke up. "Oh please Addison-kun?"

Another girl who had been moved by the music, wiping tears from her cheeks said, "I would love to designate you, Addison-kun."

"I want to designate him too!" said another.

Haruhi held out a hand to help up the stunned blonde, "Being a host isn't so bad Addison." she offered a secret smile that only her fellow cross-dresser would understand.

As she stood up, Kyouya appeared beside her. "As the club's dog you would have to work until graduation to pay off your debt." he pushed up his glasses, "But as a host, you will only need a thousand or so designations to clear it." he glanced down at the calculations he had done in his notebook.

_Only_ a thousand?

Addison swallowed hard and her brother's words from that morning came to mind. _"Stay out of trouble!"_ he had said. She was way past trouble now, this was a cataclysm. But she was in so deep now, another step into this insane world of high-class fantasies and pleasure wouldn't matter so much any more. So she nodded slowly.

And thus it was that Addison Cade became the second female host at Ouran.

**End of Chapter 1**

Wow, I think that's the longest chapter I've ever written... What didja think?

If you guys like it I'll try to continue, but again, I don't get a lot of writing time these days.


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